As an adult with kids in college and high school, I took up street riding for the first time less than a year ago (although I've been riding dirt for about five years with my teenage son). It was a lifelong ambition, and finally the time in my life was right to take the plunge.

Being a beginner I went mild/entry-level, buying a new 2012 Honda CBR250RA in August of 2012. In June 2013 I took my first road trip with a group of guys I work with, 1500 miles through the US southern Appalachian mountains in Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee. Here's a picture of me on my bike, taken by a roadside photographer along Deal's Gap.

I felt very confident running along the Tail of the Dragon and had a lot of fun leaning over while keeping the revs on my 250cc thumper between 7,000 & 10,000 rpm going in and coming out of the hairpins.

As an adult with kids college and high school, I took up street riding for the first time less than a year ago (although I've been riding dirt for about five years with my teenage son). It was a lifelong ambition, and finally the time in my life was right to take the plunge.

Being a beginner I went mild/entry-level, buying a new 2012 Honda CBR250RA in August of 2012. In June 2013 I took my first road trip with a group of guys I work with, 1500 miles through the US southern Appalachian mountains in Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee. Here's a picture of me on my bike, taken by a roadside photographer along Deal's Gap.

I felt very confident running along the Tail of the Dragon and had a lot of fun leaning over while keeping the revs on my 250cc thumper between 7,000 & 10,000 rpm going in and coming out of the hairpins.

As an adult with kids college and high school, I took up street riding for the first time less than a year ago (although I've been riding dirt for about five years with my teenage son). It was a lifelong ambition, and finally the time in my life was right to take the plunge.

Being a beginner I went mild/entry-level, buying a new 2012 Honda CBR250RA in August of 2012. In June 2013 I took my first road trip with a group of guys I work with, 1500 miles through the US southern Appalachian mountains in Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee. Here's a picture of me on my bike, taken by a roadside photographer along Deal's Gap.

I felt very confident running along the Tail of the Dragon and had a lot of fun leaning over while keeping the revs on my 250cc thumper between 7,000 & 10,000 rpm going in and coming out of the hairpins.

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Congratulations on the new bike and entry to street riding. Certainly looks like you made a great choice in bike and gear! Here's to many happy miles and smiles!

Congratulations on the new bike and entry to street riding. Certainly looks like you made a great choice in bike and gear! Here's to many happy miles and smiles!

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I appreciate the warm welcome, thank you! So far, the bike has been flawless and the gear seems to be working! It was kind of hilarious riding a CBR250R single in a group that included a GS1150, an R1200RT, an R1200C, a Harley Police Special, and an ST1100! I was probably less comfortable (but not uncomfortable) on the highways but once we hit the hairpins I was in high cotton! It was also kind of cool that during rest breaks, people - usually BMW guys - would come over to chat and check out the little sportbike. I think most people were kind of surprised that a quarter liter could keep up with the liter+ bikes while hauling around a 200-pound rider plus two saddlebags and a couple of DrySpec tailpacks. I guess it's all about a different approach to riding: conserve momentum; work the six-speed aggressively to keep the rpm in the powerband; don't hesitate to use a lot of throttle, anticipate any "need for speed" and build it up a little earlier than the rest of the crew. Even running the pants off the motor though, I was getting between 69-80 mpg, yielding a range of 200+ miles on the 3.4 gallon tank.